Basallo, Beavers banging on the door as O's offense struggles

PHILADELPHIA -- The knocking on the Major League door can’t get much louder.

As the Orioles were blanked during a 5-0 loss to the Phillies on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers continued to bolster their cases for promotions to the big leagues in the near future. Beavers homered twice during Triple-A Norfolk’s 12-1 win over Rochester, while Basallo also went deep again.

Basallo (Baltimore’s No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 overall) went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored while homering for the second straight game. The 20-year-old is batting .278 with 22 homers and a .998 OPS over 70 games this season.

Beavers (O’s No. 3) recorded his second straight two-homer game as part of a 2-for-4 showing that included two RBIs and three runs scored. The 23-year-old is hitting .310 with 18 home runs and a .962 OPS in 86 games this season.

Coming out of last Thursday’s Trade Deadline -- which completed an Orioles fire sale that featured nine big leaguers getting moved in July -- general manager Mike Elias was again asked Friday morning about Basallo and Beavers. When will the exciting youngsters arrive to help the struggling O’s (51-63)?

“They’re both having terrific seasons. They’ve both been bright spots in this organization in a tough year,” Elias said. “To see them performing in Triple-A like that, it’s really good. They’ve come a long way, and they're almost there. There's some things we're still looking for and hoping they'll do, but I do think getting them a taste in 2025 here would be a good thing for all parties."

At this point, it feels inevitable -- and perhaps even somewhat imminent.

Beavers (who was selected at No. 33 in Competitive Balance Round A during the 2022 MLB Draft) doesn’t appear to have much left to prove. He’s up to 92 games of Triple-A experience and -- in addition to his prolific bat -- has shown he can handle all three outfield spots, particularly the corners.

The outfield has been one of the areas most lacking offensive production for Baltimore.

Colton Cowser is slumping, having gone 2-for-20 (.100) with 14 strikeouts in 22 plate appearances over his past seven games. Interim manager Tony Mansolino is opting to keep Cowser in left -- rather than shift him over to center, where Cedric Mullins played before being traded to the Mets -- in hopes of getting more offense.

“I just want to make it as simple as I can for [Cowser],” Mansolino said. “Right now, he’s probably not swinging the bat the way he would like. I think any time you’re moving a guy center to left and back and forth, I think it just puts a little bit more stress on the player. I think his best position is probably left field.

“So what I’m trying to do is reverse engineer offensive production. Make him comfortable out there. Hopefully, it helps offensively.”

However, that means the Orioles must start Dylan Carlson in center every day because of the current roster construction. The 26-year-old is mired in an 0-for-24 slump and is batting .065 (2-for-31) since getting recalled from Triple-A on July 22, lowering his MLB season average to .197 in 53 games.

Meanwhile, corner outfielder Tyler O’Neill is having trouble staying on the field. He missed games on Saturday and Sunday due to an illness, then left Tuesday’s contest with right wrist discomfort, which he sustained during a jump at the wall on Max Kepler’s two-run home run in the second inning.

O’Neill aggravated his wrist during a later at-bat, then exited in the sixth. X-rays were negative.

Although O’Neill is hopeful he’ll feel better within 24 hours, if he ends up on the injured list for the third time this season, Beavers would be a natural fit to replace him on the roster.

With Basallo, the O’s have been hesitant to call him up to the big leagues because of his lack of catching experience. He has continued to get better behind the plate, but he also has made only 40 starts there in Triple-A.

But Basallo’s bat would likely immediately upgrade Baltimore’s offensive production. And the Orioles could use it -- they’ve scored 10 runs while going 1-4 since the Trade Deadline and got shut out for the 12th time this season on Tuesday.

“We’re going to be better than that,” Mansolino said. “And despite missing some of the guys [who got traded], we still have higher expectations and standards to put up better at-bats than that going forward.”

There could even be new guys ready to help soon enough.